Twelve typical cases and three innovative judicial mechanisms involving micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) were released by the Supreme People's Court (SPC) on April 19 as preliminary achievements of implementing the SPC's directive on supporting MSMEs development issued in January.

The three mechanisms are the "14 measures to support production resumption of MSMEs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic" issued by the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court in Jiangsu province, the "business environment optimization workshop" launched by the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing municipality, and the "platform for settlement and execution supervision" launched by the Jiashan County People's Court in Zhejiang province. The measures reflect the courts' efforts in contributing their part and rendering support for MSMEs, which have greatly enhanced their confidence and vitality.

Efforts were also made to further improve the property rights protection system for MSMEs, maintain a market order that is conducive to fair competition among MSMEs, and improve the assistance mechanism for market entities.

In trials of bankruptcy cases, fast hearing procedures were adopted considering the characteristics of MSMEs, which in turn shortened the case-handling period and lowered the procedural cost. In the first quarter of 2022, courts across the nation concluded 83 cases related to MSMEs bankruptcy and restructuring, involving a credit totaling 167.3 billion yuan ($25.73 billion), which helped 70 promising enterprises out of predicament and over 40,000 people stay employed.

Aiming to alleviate financing difficulties and high financing costs for MSMEs, courts intensified their support for inclusive financing.

Efforts were made to expand financing channels by confirming legal efficacy of atypical guarantee, supporting enterprises to use "existing and future production equipment, raw materials, semi-finished products and products" as collateral property for financing, and encouraging financial institutions to innovate credit products to ease the financing pressure on MSMEs. Work has also been done to strengthen protection of MSMEs' credit information to make sure that they can benefit from credit guarantee financing.

In terms of high financing costs, efforts were made to regulate the financing order in the private sectors and crack down on usury. For financing disputes, unreasonable financing interest rate was reduced, and litigation claims in violation of the inclusive financing policies were denied.

Some cases also reflected courts' efforts to achieve win-win results for both creditors and MSMEs debtors. While securing creditors' rights, efforts were made to minimize the adverse impact on MSMEs. On one hand, malicious debt evasions, especially to the MSMEs, were severely handled. On the other hand, accountability was intensified for arbitrary closedowns of MSMEs.

In cases where MSMEs were the debtors, courts tried to make the sealed properties stay operational so as to maximize the cash value of the MSMEs. In 2021, courts across the nation concluded 258,000 cases related to MSMEs via special operations, involving 56.79 billion yuan in executions.

In term of arrears to MSMEs, green channels were set up to file, trial and execute those cases so that they can get their funds back in time. Related policies were improved and special judicial campaigns were launched in this regard to help them achieve sustainable development.